Vol. 9, Special Issue 9, Part Z (2025)

The present investigation entitled “Effect of chemical preservatives on keeping quality and vase life of Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii) cv. Livia” was conducted during April 2025 at the Department of Floriculture & Landscaping, College of Horticulture and Research Station, Saja, Bemetara (C.G.). The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with ten treatments, comprising T₀ (Distilled water – Control), T₁ (Citric acid @ 100 ppm + 4% sugar), T₂ (Citric acid @ 200 ppm + 4% sugar), T₃ (Citric acid @ 300 ppm + 4% sugar), T₄ (8-HQS @ 100 ppm + 4% sugar), T₅ (8-HQS @ 200 ppm + 4% sugar), T₆ (8-HQS @ 300 ppm + 4% sugar), T₇ (Salicylic acid @ 100 ppm + 4% sugar), T₈ (Salicylic acid @ 200 ppm + 4% sugar) and T₉ (Salicylic acid @ 300 ppm + 4% sugar).

Observations were recorded on different postharvest quality traits such as vase life, fresh weight, flower diameter, solution uptake, stem bending, petal discoloration, petal shriveling, physiological weight loss or gain, stem diameter, and petal drooping.

Results revealed that among the treatments, 8-HQS @ 200 ppm + 4% sugar (T₅) performed best for most parameters, recording the longest vase life (12.1 days), maximum flower diameter (9.89, 9.38, 8.31, 6.69, and 8.31 cm on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th day, respectively), highest solution uptake (60.8 ml), greatest physiological weight gain (+4.4 g on the 3rd day and least loss −1.9 g on the 9th day), and consistently superior stem diameter (7.59, 7.28, 6.46, 5.60, and 5.60 mm on corresponding days). This treatment also delayed senescence by prolonging days to stem bending (13.9 days), petal discoloration (13.8 days), petal shriveling (14.0 days), and petal drop (17.9 days). Salicylic acid @ 200 ppm + 4% sugar (T₈) also showed significant improvements over the control, particularly in flower diameter and solution uptake, and was statistically at par with T₅ for certain traits. By contrast, the control (T₀, distilled water) consistently recorded the poorest performance with the shortest vase life (7.1 days), minimum flower diameter (6.02, 5.70, 5.06, 4.17, and 5.06 cm), lowest solution uptake (49.9 ml), smallest stem diameter (5.64, 5.41, 4.80, 4.37, and 4.15 mm), and earliest onset of senescence symptoms.

The superior performance of T₅ may be attributed to the antimicrobial action of 8-HQS, which prevented xylem blockage and maintained continuous water uptake, while sugar supplied the necessary energy to sustain cell metabolism and flower turgidity.)